Dying to live again
by Saphalina
Summary: Elena desperate to escape the trials of Tortuga stows away on Jack's ship only to be caught up in an adventure of a lifetime. Jack is drawn to the woman, only to find that she has a more than colourful past. Jack/OC. Rated for swearing, violence and sexual references.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter one

Before the night is over

A dark haired man strode purposefully in to the dimly lit tavern, quickly scanning the room before his eyes settled on the bar. He pushed himself through the crowds until his hands met the sturdy wood of the bar. His rough voice barked to the bar maid for a rum, and the woman quickly put one in front of him. Whilst he stood there he surveyed his surroundings, clearly trying to pick someone out from the crowd.

A smirk graced his features when he noticed a table at the back where an old man sat guzzling his drink. With his drunken swagger, he moved over to the table standing in front of the stranger, waiting for him to look up from his drink.

A sudden spray of alcohol covered the already filthy table, as shocked grey eyes focused on the man in front of him. Disbelief coated his every word when the old man spoke after staring at jack for many moments.

"Chuffin' hell, I wouldn't a-reckoned, Jack Sparra! Where's tha bin?"

"Oh, here and there, you know me Donald. How have you been?" Jack greeted as he sat down in the empty seat, placing his mug of rum in front of himself after taking a large mouthful.

"Can't complain. Now why don't we jus' skip the pleasantries? Whatyafter?" Donald spoke impatiently.

Jack quickly surveyed the room to check that no one was watching, assured that everyone else was busy doing their own thing, he slowly pulled out a piece of leathery material from his inner coat pocket and placed it on the table, pushing it forwards.

"I happen to have a very interesting map for you to take a look at, if you're willing."

Don quickly pushed it back, giving him a meaningful stare. "Ye should know me by now, ye don't get owt for nowt, so hand over the cash."

Jack reluctantly dove back into his pockets pulling out some golden coins; he slammed them on the table with a grunt before giving his companion an aggravated stare.

"Now will you take a look at the damned thing." Jack growled, clearly angry at the thought of paying for something. It wasn't in his nature, he was more for the 'take what you can, give nothing back' approach.

Don quickly grabbed the material from the table along with the coins, casting a critical glance over it before putting it back down on the table.

"It's nowt but spit an' glue."

Jack sighed. "I have complete confidence in your proficient cartographic skills, but just take a closer look will you?" His eyes seemed to be yearning for an explanation for the strange material, wanting nothing more than Don to reveal it was a map leading to a long lost treasure that would make him rich beyond his wildest dreams.

This speech earned a glare from Don, but never the less Don pulled some spectacles out from his pocket and placed them on the bridge of his nose and looked at the map a second time.

"Wha' ever it is, it probably ain't a fake 'cause it's o'er 75 years old. There's some kind o' foreign language written on it 'n' wha' appears t' be part of a map. I could probably decipher it, but I'll need some time"

Jack let out an exasperated sigh, he didn't want to have to wait to find out what the map led to, he was impatient to get back out to sea and find himself some more treasure. "And just how much time do you reckon you'll need."

"Come back 'n' see me tomorrow an' I should have an answer for you then."

"In that case I think i'll find myself a nice lass to drink away the night with if you don't mind" Jack said as he abruptly stood up from the table, tipping his hat to Don.

Elena walked slowly down the street, her eyes darting around for her next pray. She desperately wanted to find someone with plenty of money in their pocket that she could take so that she would be able to escape the island. She hated it here, the disgusting prostitutes, and the dirty lecherous men that would try and grab at her as she walked past. To escape to a more civilized island would be bliss, but that would cost money, money she didn't have. So here she was finding the perfect mark to pickpocket, just like she had been doing for the past few months in order to put a roof over her head and food in her belly.

Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a drunken man waving a large pouch in the air, jingling the money within. "The drinks are on me lads." He yelled to the men he was with as they stumbled into the nearest tavern.

Elena's face broke out into a sly grin, it was just too perfect, a large purse of money and a drunken fool to steal it off. Not only was she probably going to get enough that night to be able to escape the island, but it was going to be easy pickings. She smoothed down her curly haired locks and walked towards the tavern the men had just disappeared into.

She spotted him immediately when she entered, stood at the bar, surrounded by men who had clearly heard the offer of free booze. Preparing herself mentally for the task ahead, Elena discretely pulled down the front of her dress so that more of her cleavage was showing, she sauntered over to him.

"Now then handsome, does this offer of drink apply to only men or can a lonely lady like myself appeal to your good nature and join you in your celebrations?" she purred into his ear from behind him.

The man slowly turned around, his gaze first drawn to her pouting lips and then downwards to the exposed flesh of her bosom. A drunken smile crossed his features before declaring "How could I turn down the company of such a gorgeous lady". This earned a loud chorus of agreement from his friends before his arm encircled her waste and pulled her close to his side.

Thirty minutes later Elena was trying not to role her eyes at the man, who was only known as Red, as he told another ridiculous and farfetched story of his daring courage and bravery as he downed yet another pint. Luckily he was now so far gone in his drunkenness that Elena now had the opportunity to get what she had come in tavern for in the first place. Leaning over she carefully detached his money pouch from his belt and slipped it into the folds of her dress.

"If you gentleman will excuse me, I'm just going to powder my nose and then I will be right back with you handsome devils" she said with a wink as she stood from where she was sat at the table.

Elena slowly made her way across the tavern as if she was going to do as she had stated, and then when she knew they were no longer looking her way, she made a hasty retreat to the door and out into the night air. She stood outside the tavern for a moment, leaning against the wall, too elated at her accomplishment to move. She had done it, in the pouch she could feel there was enough to get her off the island. Elena could not stop the huge smile from crossing her features as she came to the realisation that she could finally leave the place that disgusted her so much. Slowly she turned to make her way back to the hovel she lived in for what would be her final night on the island, for in the morning she would be able to buy a passage somewhere new. As Elena took her first steps away from the tavern she heard shouting from within that chilled her to the bone.

"The bitch has stolen my money! Get after her you fools!"

Elena lost no time in changing her pace and started to run from the tavern as fast as she could, if they managed to catch up with her she knew she would be lucky to escape with her life. She could hear footfalls behind her and knew that they had seen which direction she had headed and were hot on her heels in pursuit. Changing direction and running down a street, she tried to shake them off but it was to no avail. In a panic she blindly ran up an alley only to find that it was a dead end, turning quickly she tried to go back out onto the street, but it was already too late, they were standing right in front of her now, there was no escape. Four pairs of furious eyes stared at her, unblinking.

"I think this good for nothing wench needs teaching a lesson, don't you lads?" Red asked with an evil glint in his eye.


	2. Chapter 2

Keep me a secret

Chapter 2

Jack drunkenly strode around the streets on Tortuga looking for his crew mates so he could join them for some more drinks, he had time to kill before going back to Don to see about the map. He veered left up an alley in the hopes of making a short cut to a tavern where he suspected his crew would be, only to be confronted with the sight of three men beating a woman whilst another angrily shouted at her. Jack sighed, all he wanted to do was have sit down and a drink and here he was confronted with a moral dilemma. He could turn around and pretend he hadn't seen anything and carry on his way to the tavern a different way, or he could help the girl and no doubt get himself encompassed within a fight. It was during this moral dilemma that the man shouted at him, forcing him into a decision.

"Move on ye drunken sod, nothing for you to see here."

"Well from my point of view there's plenty to see, there's that nice lass lying there on the ground, then there's three blokes beating the living daylights out of her while you shout at her. If you ask me that's a lot more than nothing to see." Jack drawled, gesturing at the woman lying prostrate on the floor.

"It's none of your business," the man spat "this woman stole from me and I intend to get it back."

"Well you see it is business, 'cause I have this horrid affliction called a conscience, awful bad luck to have it in my line of work. But alas, my conscience is saying that four men against one woman seems decidedly unfair and i'm going to have to do something about that."

The man smiled maliciously, unsheathing his sword, nodding to the other men to do the same. Jack rolled his eyes, bringing out his own sword.

Elena didn't know what to think; out of nowhere a seemingly drunken idiot arrives and starts to fight so as to rescue her. She was grateful of course, but this was Tortuga, men here don't save a seemingly defenceless woman outnumbered in an alley. The mysterious man was currently fighting, outnumbered by three of the men whilst one stayed next to her, holding her roughly by her hair so that she could not escape. Despite seeming drunk, the man was impressive, he was easily taking on the three men, one of them was already lying unconscious whilst another was seemingly severely injured. The only one left fighting was the ring leader she had stolen off.

The grip on her hair slackened slightly as the man holding it was torn between helping his friend and keeping her still. Taking advantage of the situation, Elena stood sharply on this foot and elbowing his simultaneously in the stomach. Whirling round whilst he was still stunned by her actions, she kicked him in his groin and punched him in the face, smiling when she heard the tell tale crack of a broken nose and the groan on his pain. Before he could recover she grabbed him by his hair and slammed his forehead into the brick wall rendering him unconscious.

Turning round she saw the mysterious men still embroiled in fighting the ring leader, looking around in hopes of finding a weapon with which she could defend herself and help the man that had come to her aid she saw an empty bottle lying near her feet. Picking it up, she made short work of bringing it down on his head, causing him to drop to the floor and his eyes to roll backwards in his head.

Breathlessly Elena looked up into the strangers eyes, her breath caught in her throat when her eyes met the brown orbs looking at her in shock. Taking in his whole body, her heart fluttered for a moment before she swallowed quickly and pulled a mask of indifference over her features.

"When you get around to thanking me, the name's Captain Jack Sparrow." The man grinned, his golden teeth glinting in the faint light.

"And why would I thank you? I had everything under control before you blundered in." Elena lied, not wanting to admit to herself or to Jack that she owed him her life.

"Aye, of course you did love, you being beaten in an alley, outnumbered four to one was all part of your plan. Well I do apologize for getting in your way." Jack slurred sarcastically, moving past her and up the alley to his original destination. Now more than ever he needed that drink of rum.

Elena watched as Jack sashayed up the alley, confused by both his mannerisms and his actions. He seemed too drunk to even be able to walk never mind take on three against one in a fight and win. Then there's the fact that he saved her life, loath as she was to admit that she had needed help, and then just walked off as if it was nothing. One thing was for sure, the sooner she got off of this dreadful island the better.

Jack sighed contentedly as he took a long gulp from the bottle in front of him, he had finally found his crew and gotten a well earned drink. Yet, for some reason, he couldn't get the image of the woman in the alley out of his head. He had seen out of the corner of his eye how she had taken down the man that had been keeping hold of her and he was shocked to say the least. Everyone woman in Tortuga worth her salt knew how to protect themselves, but the way the woman had fought was beyond that, she was on par with a man, maybe even a pirate. She was a pretty lass too, that he could not deny. Jack groaned, rubbing his temples, all this thinking was giving him a headache. Determined to forget about the whole thing he downed the bottle in his hand and yelled for another.

Elena growled in frustration. Why was luck never on her side? She had spent the entire night and morning trying to find a ship which would take her to another port using her money with little success. Most ships would not take her and those that were willing she feared would sexually abuse her during the voyage. She knew how to fight but that would be of little use when trapped on board a ship with nowhere to run to in the middle of the ocean. Deciding she needed to have a drink and clear her head she walked into the nearest tavern and sat down nursing a drink in her hands.

The only option it seemed now was to stow away on a ship so that she could escape this island she hated so much, but to do so would risk being caught and harshly reprimanded, maybe even thrown overboard and killed. She would need to choose the ship carefully to minimise the risk, one where hiding would be easier, where if she was caught she would be less likely to be killed.

Out of the corner of her eye she spotted the stranger who had saved her life the night before, he'd said he was a captain which meant that he must have a ship. If he had a ship then she could stowaway on board, if he caught her then he seemed unlikely to be the kind of man to through her into the water to her death, or to hurt her. Making up her mind, she watched him surreptitiously over her drink as he spoke to a man at a table. After about twenty minutes Jack left the table, laughing and smiling as he shook the other man's hand. Elena quickly left her table and followed him out of the door making sure not to lose sight of him, and yet not be too close for him to notice her.

She watched as he climbed onboard his ship, the Black Pearl, clinging to the shadows of the buildings on the dockside. She waited a few moments before following onboard, praying that she wouldn't be caught before the ship had time to depart. Knowing that the best place to hide would be the hold, she made her way in the rough direction of where it would be, hoping that the captain was in his cabin. When she finally found a room that looked like the hold, she hid herself in a corner behind some crates, thanking the Lord that she had travelled by ship before and had been able to guess where the hold would be on this ship.

Jack strode out from his cabin and up the wheel, grasping it firmly in his hands. A few more minutes and then the crew would be back on board and they could set sail. Don had managed to tell him some good news, the map lead to the Dragons Eye, an emerald the size of a grown man's head. The emerald gave the owner the ability to see into the future and see through the eyes of other people. Those kinds of powers would be of great benefit to a pirate, not to mention the emerald was accompanied with a large amount of regular treasure. The only thing Don had been unable to tell him was what the writing on the map said, Don had managed to figure out it was either Spanish or Portuguese but he couldn't find anyone able to translate it. Jack needed to find someone to translate it as it might give vital information needed about the Dragons Eye such as traps laid for people such as him, but to get someone to translate it he would need to go to a Spanish Island which would take valuable time.

Hearing the crew boarding the ship, he yelled at them to make ready to sail. The sooner he was out to sea the better, he could always think more clearly on the waves.

Elena figured they had been sailing for at least four hours now, but there was no way to know for sure as there was no sunlight to be able to gauge the time. She was uncomfortable behind the boxes, and tried to move to a more comfortable position to stop her from getting cramp. Hearing the door to the hold open she ceased her movements immediately, holding her breath for fear of being caught. She could hear a man muttering to himself as he searched the hold for something.

"Can't believe the captain already wants me to fetch some rum from in here, only been at sea half a day."

The pain in her leg was becoming unbearable as cramp set it, slowly she tried to move her leg but she became tangled in her dress and fell with a crash into the crates in front of her.

Her heart hammered in her eyes as she hoped in vain that she hadn't been heard. Her heart sank as a dirty face appeared in front of hers.

"Well well well, what do we have here, a stowaway? Captain won't be happy about this."


End file.
